


Under Pressure

by CJ_fics



Series: The Team within the Team [9]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, established olicity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-03
Updated: 2015-09-03
Packaged: 2018-04-18 20:22:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4719209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CJ_fics/pseuds/CJ_fics
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Being CEO and the tech support for the team is hard work. Felicity feels the pressure. Good thing she has Oliver in her corner.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Under Pressure

“Hey, what are you doing here?” Thea says in surprise as the elevator doors to the bunker open and he sees Felicity sitting by her computer terminal.

It was early on a Saturday morning, and Thea knew that Saturday mornings were sacred for Oliver and Felicity. The couple liked to have slow mornings on Saturdays, sleeping in, Oliver making brunch for Felicity, and doing other “couple-y” things that Thea was not comfortable knowing about her brother and his Saturday morning exploits.

“Hey,” Felicity greets back with a distracted and tired smile, “I’m waiting for the finance department to send in the revised reports for the investors’ meeting on Monday, so I can approve it for printing and signing. I thought I’d try to crack this thing with Anarky. I’m getting nowhere!”

Anarky and his followers seemed to have removed all traces of their presence on the internet over the last few weeks. This had caused the team a lot of worry as their actions against the city and its government have become more violent as they went dark online. Not even the I.P. addresses and the phone numbers that Felicity had tracked were showing any activity online. So, the team – and SCPD – were caught unaware as Anarky and his group of followers detonated seemingly random bombs all over the city and made attempts on politician’s lives. Everyone was on high alert, knowing that eventually there will be casualties and they couldn’t seem to do anything to prevent such an eventuality.

“I’m missing something,” Felicity continues in a rush, “It’s impossible that they’re coordinating these attacks without communicating. But nada. Even the Anarky followers that have been caught are not saying anything – I might have hacked into the SCPD system to get regular updates on what they know. No, no might about it. I hacked into their system – which is such an ugly word. But nada. They’re as much in the dark as we are. Maybe even more so.”

“Felicity,” Thea says in a consoling voice as she steps into the circular platform where Felicity’s computer system was housed. She reaches a hand out to lay a comforting squeeze on the Felicity’s shoulder. The older woman looked like she hasn’t had a decent night’s sleep in a while, “You’ll figure it out. If there’s anyone who can, it’s you.”

“Thanks, Thea,” Felicity smiles squeezing the hand on her shoulder. She takes a deep breath and lets it all out in a loud exhale, “It’s just that there’s too much going on right now. It’s my first investors’ meeting ever since the board approved me as CEO – so I feel like everything has to be perfect. Then this whole thing with Anarky has got me stumped. And they’re getting more violent! What if the next time they attack, someone dies? I know, so far, there have been no casualties. But a lot of people have been injured – and – and I have to figure it out somehow! And –and what if the next time they attack will be at one of the Danforth / Queen rallies? And we won’t know until they make their move!”

Thea turns Felicity’s chair to face her frantic friend, “Felicity! It will be all right. OK? We’ve got this. Is there anything I can do to help?”

Felicity takes a shaky breath, visibly attempting to calm herself as she shakes her head.

“Just be ready,” Felicity murmurs, “We just have to be ready for the worst.”

Thea nods in agreement, flashing Felicity a bracing smile, “We will be. We are.”

“Enough about that,” Felicity responds, waving a hand in front of her face to dismiss her panic attack and her worries, “What are you doing here?”

“John wants to up my weapons training. Guns, this time,” Thea answers, “Apparently, they’re different from aiming a bow and arrow.”

“They are,” a voice says from the subway entrance. It’s Lyla, “I’ll be doing your training today, Thea.”

At Thea and Felicity’s confused frowns, Lyla continues, “Sara’s been running a slight fever and wants her dad near her all the time. So, I’m taking over your training for today.”

Lyla walks to where Thea and Felicity are at with a smile.

“Lyla, if Sara’s sick, maybe we can reschedule,” Thea says.

“Nah, she’s fine. She’s just being extra needy and wants a lot of Daddy time,” Lyla answers with a smile, “Besides, I’m kinda feeling like I need some time to be anything other than a mom today. Johnny’s got things covered at home for now.”

“You’re more than a mom, Lyla,” Felicity says with a smile, “You’re like one of the most badass people on the planet.”

“Words that bring joy to my heart,” Lyla answers teasingly, “No, really. I’ve not been out in the field for so long and the amount of paperwork I’ve had to deal with has made me miss–”

“Your guns?” Thea finishes for her with a smirk.

“Exactly,” Lyla smiles, “Everything OK here, ladies? You all right, Felicity?”

“Aside from the mini nervous breakdown I just had, everything’s peachy,” Felicity responds, “Speaking of, you girls head to the shooting range, while I try to figure out what’s up with Anarky and his minions.”

“You sure?” Thea says hesitantly, “I can stay and look over what we have on Anarky with you, if you want.”

“Me, too,” Lyla adds shooting Felicity an understanding look.

“Nah, go be kick ass chicks,” Felicity says lightly, “While I go kick ass in my own way.”

“Where’s Ollie?” Thea asks as she turns to head for the area where the guns are stashed.

“He should be here soon,” Felicity replies, “He’s making brunch – and crullers take some time to rise.”

“I can’t believe billionaire-playboy-by-day Oliver Queen and grumpy-tough-guy-vigilante-by-night Green Arrow knows what crullers are, and knows how to make them,” Lyla shakes her head with a chuckle.

“Oh, come off it, Michaels,” Felicity jokes back, “Your gruff and stoic with gargantuan guns of steel baby daddy is probably making kissy faces at your baby girl right at this minute.”

“Don’t forget cooing,” Lyla adds with a laugh, “He coos when he’s with her.”

With a hearty laugh, Felicity turns her chair to face her monitors as Lyla and Thea head for the shooting range.

———-

The sounds of Thea and Lyla shooting their guns are muffled by the heavy duty door that separated the shooting range from the rest of the bunker and the acoustic foam that lined the entire area. Still, Felicity takes comfort in the muffled sounds, knowing that she wasn’t alone in the bunker. But the sounds are not enough to allay the impending panic attack she could feel returning as she fails to figure out how Anarky and his followers were communicating and as she reads the two-hundred page financial report and spots ten mistakes and issues in the first five pages.

Felicity paces in front of her computer set up, red pen in hand as she reads the printed report and marks corrections and questions.

“Who prepared this? Things don’t add up! They didn’t even revise according to my initial comments,” she mumbles as she realises how much time this will take her. Time she doesn’t have, if she wants to figure out what Anarky is up to soon – at the most, before the Danforth / Queen rally on Tuesday afternoon.

The smell of baked goods signals Oliver’s arrival. Felicity looks up as he places a boxes of food on the conference table.

“You’re here,” she breathes. His presence always gives her instant comfort.

“Hi,” he says walking towards her to take in his arms, “I missed you this morning.”

She stands on her tip toes to nuzzle the spot beneath his jaw, “I’m sorry. It’s just–”

“Hey, hey,” he murmurs softly, bending slightly lower to peck her right temple, “It’s all right. I know you have a lot on your plate.”

“I missed you, too,” she sighs.

“Guess what?” Oliver says straightening his spine so he could lead her to the table where the food he had prepared rested.

“What?” she says, inhaling the sweet smell of baked goods.

“I got the recipe for that Honey Pie you liked so much from that place in Baker City,” Oliver announces with a grin.

“And you made some?” Felicity asks excitedly – complete with wide eyes, clapping and a skip.

Oliver chuckles at the adorableness that is Felicity Smoak. He nods, happy to be able to do this for her.

“You’re the best!” she exclaims, jumping into his arms, “I’ve been wanting that for months now. But we’ve had no time to go back to that nice cafe.”

She pecks his lips repeatedly in thanks. He pecks her back.

“How did you get the recipe? Isn’t it like some sort of top secret thing?” she asks as she pulls slightly away from him.

“I said, please,” he winks, “Also, they were thankful because that one picture they took of us had customers flocking to their cafe. I might have promised them a visit before the year ends as well.”

“We should definitely go back there sometime,” Felicity agrees, “Can I have some now?”

“Of course, I made these for you,” he says, turning to open the box of Honey Pie.

“My tummy loves you all the more for that, even though my hips probably shouldn’t,” she says lightly.

“I love your hips,” he whispers in her ear, clutching the said body part in his big hands, “And your butt, and your thighs, and everything about you.”

“Sheesh,” Thea calls out from the entrance of the shooting range, “You two are sappy.”

“Oh, shush, Thea,” Lyla says from behind her, “They might not let us have any of the goodies in those boxes.”

“Hey,” Oliver greets the two women approaching them. He flashes them a small smile, “How was gun training?”

“Good,” Lyla responds with a smile, knowing that Oliver has still not forgiven himself for what he did when he was Al Sahim, even though Lyla completely understood his reasons. “Thea’s a natural.”

“Awww, thanks, Lyla,” Thea says, reaching for one of the boxes, “What’s this?”

“That box has crullers and cheese danish. The other one has Honey Pie,” Oliver answers.

“I should go brew a fresh pot coffee,” Felicity offers, turning towards the small pantry they had set up in the back of the bunker.

“I’ll do it,” Oliver says, pulling out a chair for Felicity, “Sit, please.”

Felicity smiles at him as she takes a seat.

As Oliver heads towards the pantry, Lyla comments, “He’s really such a sweetheart.”

“He is,” Thea agrees, “Well done, Smoak.”

Felicity blushes and chuckles as she reaches for a slice of Honey Pie.

———–

The reprieve was temporary. Fifteen minutes after they started to eat the food that Oliver had prepared, Felicity’s phone rings. The Human Resources Department needed her input about the changes in the staff policies the board needed to approve.

After dealing with that call, Felicity goes back to her computer monitors to try to figure out Anarky’s next move and how he communicates with his followers while keeping an eye on the financial report she needed to correct.

Oliver opts to get some training time with Thea as Felicity deals with her responsibilities. Lyla joins them for an impromptu sparring session. Laurel shows up around noon, just as Oliver, Thea and Lyla were winding down from their combat training.

She nods at them in greeting as she steps into the training area. She addresses Oliver, “Felicity looks like she’s having a nervous breakdown out there.”

“What?” Oliver rushes out to where Felicity’s computer set-up is, Thea, Lyla and Laurel at his heels.

“Felicity?” Oliver calls out tentatively, frowning at the sight of his girlfriend muttering to herself as she paced around her area.

At her lack of response, Oliver walks faster to where she’s pacing, stopping in front of her to lay his hands on her upper arm to stop her.

“Felicity?” he repeats softly, “What’s the matter, baby?”

“Don’t call me ‘baby’,” she complains distractedly.

“OK, OK … What’s going on?” he insists.

“There’s so much to do!” she exclaims, “The financial report is nowhere near ready for printing and presentation to the board! It has to be ready first thing on Monday! Then the HR policies need to be amended so the board can approve it! And Anarky! I don’t know how he communicates with his minions! It’s as if they’ve disappeared from the internet and the mobile system! And if they’re not there, I won’t ever find out what they’re doing! What if they attack again? And someone dies?!? And what if they attack in your next rally? Or any of your rallies? Then what would we do? We can’t prepare for him and what he will do!”

Oliver strokes his hands up and down her upper arms as he pulls her closer, “Hey, hey, it will be fine. Let’s deal with everything one at a time, OK?”

Felicity nods as she sniffles, leaning her body fully against Oliver’s.

In the same soft voice, Oliver continues, “Do you want me to look at the HR policies so you can focus on the financial reports? Would that help?”

“Yes,” she mumbles, “But what about Anarky–”

“Let’s set that aside for now, all right?” Oliver suggests gently, “The solution will come to you. Until then, we’ll prepare for the worst. We’ll have Digg give Lance a call and tell them to be on high alert as well. That’s all we can do for now, and that’s all right. We have to focus things we can do something about for now, OK?”

“But –”

“Felicity, I know you’re trying your best, everyone knows that. But sometimes we need to work on what we have –”

“We don’t have much though, and that’s my job! I give you all intel so can kick some ass. If I don’t do that, then what good am I?”

Oliver sighs and stops himself from casting a glare towards where Laurel was standing. Her words from weeks ago still obviously rankles at Felicity. Instead, he pulls her closer, burying her face on his chest, “You’re more than the intel you can provide, Felicity. You help so much. And you kick ass. No one can do what you do. Remember that, all right?”

She nods against his chest, rubbing her forehead against him as she inhales deeply. With an exhale, she pulls away, “All right. Is the offer to help with the HR policies still available?”. She smiles bravely at him.

“Always,” he says as he nudges her forehead with his lips, “C'mon. Let’s finish this so we can go home for a nap.”

“Thank you, Oliver,” she says steadily, meeting his eyes.

“You know I’ll always be here for anything you need, Felicity,” Oliver vows, putting a hand on her nape, “Anything.”

“I know,” she says, giving him one last smile before turning back to her table.

————-

Oliver and Felicity commandeer the conference table so they can read the reports for the Palmer Tech investors’ meeting as the rest of the team head back to the training area. Oliver reads through the HR policies, stroking Felicity’s calves as she rests her feet on his lap. She focuses her attention on the financial report, marking as she reads.

“I know I’ve said this before, but those two make a great team,” Lyla says, observing the couple from the training area.

“They do,” Thea agrees, glancing at where Lyla is looking. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Ollie that way before. Helping with homework has never been his strongest suit,” she jokes.

“It’s more than that though,” Laurel says wistfully, “He takes care of her. I never thought he would ever be capable of being that kind of partner.”

“No?” Lyla frowns, “He seems like a natural at it.”

“Ollie Queen was never known to stay when someone’s under a lot of pressure,” Laurel responds with a shrug, “He was more the type to be there for the fun times, but never for when things get serious.”

“He’s not that Ollie anymore,” Thea frowns. She’s somewhat sick and tired of people comparing Oliver to what he used to in the past. She’s seen how much Oliver had changed, not just because of his time away from the island, but because of what he has experienced since returning to Starling City. Not in the least of which, having John Diggle and Felicity Smoak as partners in his mission.

“I know,” Laurel concedes, nudging Thea’s shoulder with hers teasingly, “The old Ollie Queen would never have stayed to read HR reports. Or bake pastries.”

“Too true,” Thea responds.

With one last smile at the couple intently focused on their work and each other, the women turn back to get another round of training for the day.

/end


End file.
